Several bicycle and pedestrian projects can go ahead now that the Puget Sound Regional Council on Thursday selected the projects for federal funding.

Artist conception of Prairie Line Trail in Tacoma

Among the biggest ticket construction items are the Prairie Line Trail ($1.9 million) in Tacoma, Overlake Village Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge ($5 million) in Redmond, the Northrup Way Connection to the State Route 520 Trail ($2.2 million) in Bellevue, and Sound to Olympics Trail / State route 305 Corridor Enhancements, Phase 2 ($1.6 million) on Bainbridge Island.

Other bicycle-related projects that received funding are the Northgate Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge ($600,000) in Seattle and Completing the missing link of the Interurban Regional Trail in Lynnwood also received $1.3 million for construction.

Future trail links Lake Washington and Cedar River routes in Renton

A project to connect the Lake Washington Bicycle Route with the Cedar River Trail in Renton received $346,000 for preliminary engineering, as did the Northgate Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge ($600,000) in Seattle.

Selecting projects

The Puget Sound Regional Council is a board made up of elected officials from the region. Among its duties are selecting projects to receive Federal Highway Administration funds in the transportation alternatives program. Projects covered include bicycle and pedestrian facilities, historic preservation, archeological digs, and more.

The Prairie Line Trail project in Tacoma is a rail-trail conversion of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail line between 17th Street eastward to the Foss Waterway. Long-term plans call for a connection to the Foothills Trail, which stretches from Puyallup to South Prairie near the base of Mount Rainier.

The Overlake Village projectin Redmond would serve the Microsoft campus and the future site of a light rail station. Seattle Bike Blog reports that Microsoft already has promised to pump $33 million into the project.

Northrup Way Connection in Bellevue

Bellevue’s Northrup Way Connection would consist of bike lanes (and sidewalks) on both sides of Northrup Way between 108th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 24th Street. The city says the project would complete gaps in the bicycle system along Northeast 24th Street between Northrup Way and the existing 520 regional trail.

Together with the Washington Department of Transportation plans to build a bike path along the new State Route 520 bridge across Lake Washington, the project would complete a 12-mile bicycle system between Seattle and communities on the east side.

The bike and pedestrian trail eventually will cross Kitsap County and hook up with the Olympic Discovery Trail beyond the Hood Canal Bridge. Branches of the trail will start near the ferry terminals in Kingston and Winslow.

The first completed section of the trail can be seen for a short distance where it crosses the Winslow Ravine near the ferry terminal in Winslow.

1 comment

I have tried to identify exactly what they’re doing with the project to connect the Cedar River Trail and L. Washington route and can’t seem to find any details online. Do you have any insight? What are they fixing/adding? Thanks.